Bert van Marwijk says his Dutch side were denied a 'clear' penalty as they slipped to a shock defeat against Denmark.

Bert van Marwijk says his Dutch side were denied a 'clear' penalty as they slipped to a shock defeat against Denmark.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar led the protests when referee Damir Skomina ignored claims for handball against Lars Jacobsen in the 89th minute of the Danes' 1-0 win over the 2010 World Cup runners-up.

Despite dominating large phases of the game, the much-fancied Dutch drew a blank in front of goal, with Arjen Robben coming closest when he struck the foot of the post in the first half.

"It is such a clear penalty, and then you likely get a draw," Van Marwijk claimed.

"There were maybe four, five or six players who had a lot of chances, and the referee also had a chance.

"We were really determined and I thought that we played even better than our opponents, but you have to score that goal.

"The players really wanted to do something with all the chances but the ball just didn't want to go in. We put the substitutes on [Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart with 20 minutes left] and were even more attacking - we had even more chance after that - but this is the game.

"We were really determined, but you have to score that goal, of course. When there's a penalty that doesn't go in your favour, that's unfortunate but that's part of the game.

Holland must now get a result against their old enemy Germany on Wednesday night, but their coach remains hopeful.

"I refuse to throw in the towel. We must beat Germany. We have done that before.

"We just have to beat Germany. That's not going to be easy but that's the goal now and everyone knows that."